Willie Bain – Labour Candidate for Glasgow North East – Time To Bring To An End Seventy Years Of Shameful Neglect Of Constituents And Their Honourable But Misplaced Loyalty | caltonjock Wish Us Luck Home Willie Bain – Labour Candidate for Glasgow North East – Time To Bring To An End Seventy Years Of Shameful Neglect Of Constituents And Their Honourable But Misplaced Loyalty Willie Bain – Labour Candidate for Glasgow North East – Time To Bring To An End Seventy Years Of Shameful Neglect Of Constituents And Their Honourable But Misplaced Loyalty 2009: Local reaction in Glasgow North East following resignation of Michael Martin a. No one walking through Mr Martin’s constituency of Glasgow North East yesterday could have failed to note the stark contrast between the deprivation on the streets, and the stories of refurnished second homes and thousand-pound food bills that have been front-page fare for the past two weeks. b. The gap between the haves and the have-nots has always been incendiary in politics. It is what brought Labour to power in the first place.

Now, as the voters look around, they see that, for all the promises, the reality of their own lives bears no comparison with the luxuries to which their MPs have grown accustomed. That is why the anger is so palpable, the desire for electoral revenge almost tangible. c. One woman, approached by a Times reporter yesterday, summed up the mood of disillusion in this way: “After I have paid my bills I have nothing. I can’t afford to buy my TV licence. The people at the social tell us that teabags are luxuries and then you hear what the MPs spend their money on, and Michael Martin has been protecting them. I would never vote for Labour again.” This is the voice that Labour should have been listening to, but it is a voice that it has ceased to hear. d. “I’ve known Michael Martin for 37 years, his son Paul as well, but I’m not going to use my vote at all until this whole thing is sorted out, and I have voted Labour all my life,” said Jean Deighan, 60, a hotel housekeeper. e. The expenses scandal was “disgusting.

It’s theft on a grand scale,” said James Love, 69, a former joiner. Like many others, Martin’s failure to police the Commons has crystallized Love’s mounting resentment about Labour’s wider performance: local issues like the closure of Stobhill hospital by the last Labour-Lib Dem government in Edinburgh and of three primary schools by Glasgow’s Labour council have been sharpened. f. “He has been an MP here for years and years, but to be honest with you, you could put a monkey up here for Labour, and they would get in. I hope not now. I’ve no longer got any faith in Labour,” he said. 2009: Preliminary Jousting in the months following the resignation of the sitting MP, Mr Martin. a. Labour Party accused of “running scared” of voters for leaving Glasgow residents without an MP for at least another four months by refusing to trigger the Parliamentary mechanism needed for an election. b. Harriet Harman, the Leader of the House, insisted that the poll caused by the resignation of Michael Martin, the former Speaker, over the expenses scandal could not take place during the school holidays.

The SNP attempted to force an earlier election by calling a vote in the House of Commons to move the writ straight away, which would have meant a poll in mid-August, but lost by 111 votes. c. The SNP questioned why the Norwich North poll could go ahead on 23 July, when the Glasgow North East election was being delayed until October. The answer was that the Labour Party wished to be sure as many of their voters were at home and not away on holiday. d. The real reason was that Gordon Brown considered time would be a healer and any delay in holding the by-election would be a good thing hopefully taking the heat out of the situation. e. So the electorate were callously denied representation in Westminster for nearly 5 months. 2009: Glasgow North East November By-Election – Voters Voice Their Opinions a. It is impossible for any candidate, other than Labour to win this constituency over, there are so many blinker wearing Labour supporters but It would be satisfying to see an honest socialist returned to Westminster. The best way forward is with the SNP but, on this occasion the candidate they have selected has not endeared himself to the electorate. b.

The Labour Party has had 74 years to get it right but what do we see? once thriving communities, with plenty of work, allowed to fester and rot with properties bulldozed to the ground and communities destroyed. Where the busiest places are the food bank and the Welfare office. c. Not because people are idle or stupid, but because there is no employment for any of the many trades formally guaranteed work in the now destroyed engineering works and supporting industries. Those fortunate enough to find work locally are primarily women who work for a pittance in the local supermarket. d. What is badly needed is a massive investment in the area improving housing, reintroducing manufacturing industries, eliminating drug dealing criminals and helping addicts to recover, helping the elderly and the sick, numbers of which the area has many more than the national average.There is a lot of anger here about Michael Martin and the labour Party the consequence of which is apathy. e. If there’s any part of Glasgow with, “No Mean City” gouged on its forearm in sharpened Biro, it is Glasgow North East.

The constituency, taking in a slice of Bishopbriggs in the north to the fringes of the city centre in the south, brings new shades of meaning to fearsome; it is urban squalor in every hue, an area that looks as if it is helping police with their enquiries. f. The UK Polling Report guide says Glasgow North East is one of the “most degraded, deprived and crime-ridden parts” of the country. Come here and you are left supposing it was just being diplomatic, though, as you shuttle between the mean, flatlining shopping centres and the vast science fiction interzone of the Red Road flats. g. I have been following the Labour campaign quite closely – it seems to rest solely on attacking the SNP – not much is said about making Glasgow North East a better place for the people that live there. h. I read an article which said that 60% of the homes in the constituency are ‘workless’ – when not a family member is in paid employment. The labour candidate for Glasgow North East has been the local party secretary since 1999 under the previous regime of the now infamous Michael Martin MP. i. I cannot find much about the expenses scandal in relation to Mr Bain.

But during his tenure as secretary he will no doubt have known about the employment of Mr Martin’s family where they employed his wife, daughter and son in the local constituency. j. On the campaign front the only comment I can find from Mr Bain is that he has promised that if elected he will not claim ‘lavish’ expenses. k. I wonder if you knew that the previous incumbent MP of Glasgow NE spent £1400 in limousine hire to visit Celtic Park and a few other places during his time as an MP – the driver waited outside. perhaps Mr Bain went to Parkhead as well – the SNP should start asking questions! …eltic-Park.html l. Glasgow North East is a very deprived area where those, people who bother to vote, tend to opt out, by voting Labour without thinking why. Lies, damn lies and politics. 2009: Glasgow North East, 1999-2009. A collection of photos taken in Glasgow North East from 1999 to 2009 set to the song ‘Killermont Street’ by Roddie Frame of Aztec Camera.

The song tells of the harsh personal, social and economic effects of the decline of heavy industry in Glasgow 2009: Willie Bain Labour Party – Official Election Biography a. William (Willie) Bain 37y MP Glasgow North East – was elected in a by-election November 2009, (following the forced retirement of Speaker Michael Martin) and re-elected in the general election of 2010. He was born, educated, brought up, and has always lived in in the constituency. b. He was born in Stobhill Hospital, grew up on the Carron estate in Springburn, and went to St Roch’s RC Secondary School. His dad William was a lift engineer and his mum Catherine was a payroll clerk. They both live in the same house Willie grew up in. c. Willie was the first person in his family to go to university, and he studied law at the University of Strathclyde. He decided not to become a lawyer to but to stay in education, where he taught public law for thirteen years, first at the University of Strathclyde and then London South Bank University. 2009: Aftermath of the By-election – Claims of voting fraud – benefiting Willie Bain a.

The by-election, in Labour’s safest seat in Scotland, was caused by the resignation of the former Commons speaker, Michael Martin. In 2005, Labour candidate Michael Martin took the seat with 15,153 votes. This time the Labour candidate, Willie Bain, took the seat with 12,231 votes. The Scottish National Party came a poor second with 4120 votes. It is suspected that Labour Party’s Willie Bain may have benefited from vote fraud; Police are investigating reports of voting fraud with multiple voting at polling stations. At the St Denis’s polling station, police were called in by staff after voters turned up to be told their vote has already been cast. “We have had three incidents at polling stations today where voters turned up and their name had already been crossed off,” said a council spokesman. Glasgow City Council and The Scotsman claimed that over 6,000 people registered for postal votes in Glasgow North East, which is 10 percent of eligible voters.

(Surely not that many people are bed ridden or in absentia, even in Glasgow North East?) The Scottish National Party’s Alex Salmond, “told the Guardian that he had been very surprised at the large number of late postal vote applications submitted in this campaign. “Around 1,100 were made in the three days before applications closed. Equally chilling is the revelation that over 4000 extra voters have been added to the electoral register in the last month, accounting for 25% of those that voted.” 2009: Just Where Does Willie Bain Live? a. During the campaign, at every opportunity Willie Bain described himself as residing in the constituency but, strangely, he held a post as a lecturer in London where he worked part time (three days per week). He told the press that he stayed at his mothers place in Springburn, Glasgow, when not in London. b. I don’t know how he managed to afford to travel home every week when working in London yet living in Glasgow. Surely lecturers wages are not that great, so they keep telling us, and yet he can afford to do this constant traveling and be able to live in London as well. c.

I, “happened” to visit Hammersmith & Fulham town hall and, “happened” to notice a William Bain living at an address given as his place of residence in London and found he was registered to vote in Hammersmith & Fulham. d. Yet, the Labour party in Glasgow denied that William Bain was registered to vote in London. No Scottish media reporter has ever asked Willie Bain this question. What is so important about this question? Willie Bain founded his campaign on his insistence that he lived in the Glasgow NE constituency and was, therefore, a local. e. He also used this ‘fact’ to attack the SNP candidate for not being local. This would be something that could have been easily checked by any Scottish media investigative reporter. f. However, the Scottish media, in my opinion, have been consistent in not asking any probing questions to any Scottish Labour MP or MSP. Make of that what you will. 2009 – The secretary knows where the ……. are buried a. Willie is registered as secretary of the Glasgow North East Constituency Labour Party and its predecessor constituency, Glasgow Springburn, from 1999 to 2009. b.

In his address He stated “I am deeply honoured to be elected as Glasgow North East’s MP. I have already begun the work of standing up for families and children in my constituency at Westminster. Politicians have to keep in touch with the people who elect them, and that’s why I’m working hard in the constituency too.” c. “I will never claim lavish expenses and never milk the system. We know the next General Election is a straight choice between Labour and the Tories – the SNP are irrelevant in that debate.” d. “Growing up in Glasgow, we know the devastation caused by the Tory years. We saw the poverty, the mass unemployment, a whole generation and a whole city written off, pensioners living in freezing conditions with no dignity. It made me angry then and it makes me angry now.” e. Apparently though, he lives here and cares deeply about all these things and wants to do something about the problems. So why hasn’t he? He’s Secretary of the Labour Party in the constituency, worked closely with Michael Martin and Paul Martin, the “dynamic” father and son duo who seem pretty satisfied with their track records (even if nobody else is), indeed his party has been in charge there for SEVENTY FOUR YEARS. f.

So why does he SUDDENLY want to do something about it? If he cared that much he’d have spoken out before now. As secretary of Labour, Willie Bain colluded in the complacency that resulted in people here having to put up with higher rates of drug and alcohol addiction and deaths, higher rates of heart disease, lower life expectancy. 2009: Willie Bain believes his by-election victory can trigger a revival in The Labour Party’s fortunes. a. On being sworn into the House of Commons on Wednesday, 18 November he said, ‘These are tough times, but I was enormously encouraged by what happened last week. We have come through a lot as a party and as a nation with the recession, the expenses scandal and a breakdown of trust in politicians.” b. Willie was keen to point out that the Action Plan he campaigned on was already in the early stages of formation. His aim is to access a share of the £1b Jobs Fund from central government and use it in Glasgow. ‘I was at Downing Street on Wednesday and the Prime Minister and I agreed the big issue is about jobs. c. We discussed the need to get more jobs investment in Glasgow in particular.

‘Once my office is up and running I’ll be working with people from the council, voluntary groups and local businesses to set up the jobs summit. d. “There is money at Westminster, but we need to bring the bids together to allow the money to be released. Unemployment is at 12% in this constituency so it’s so important that we get in there in the next six months and make sure that the money is spent.” c. Willie has now resigned from his job at the South Bank University in London where he was a law lecturer. If ever there has been a time for MPs to be squeaky-clean then that time is now. Something it would appear Willie has taken note of. d. He insisted he has no plans of buying a property and he will continue to stay at his folks house in Springburn. He said; ‘The Members Services Office explained the various issues including living arrangements. ‘The person that was going through it with me explained that the current expenses system allows you to purchase a house and have the mortgage interest paid for by the House. e.

‘But he looked at my face and sensed the disapproval, and said ‘I suspect you’re not going to do that are you?’ ‘People are angry that MPs have been able to benefit through this and I wont be doing that.’ 2009: Accomodation in London a.”The hotel near Euston Station that I stayed in three times a week when I was working in London is the same hotel that I am happy to stay in now when I’m down there.” Didn’t last long. He now rents a flat and recovers all expenditure. b. The Kelly recommendation, which aims to stop Westminster politicians profiting from their London homes, comes into play at the next general election and is fully supported by Willie. c. He said ‘I’m all for the Kelly Recommendation and argued throughout the campaign that it should be brought in immediately. It should also be applied to the Scottish Parliament.’ 2009: Darling snub to Scotland undermines Willie Bain and Scottish Labour – Doris calls on Bain not to fall a.

Following news that the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alasdair Darling, has snubbed cross party calls in Scotland to accelerate capital expenditure to support Scottish jobs and the housing sector, SNP MSP for Glasgow Bob Doris commented: “Willie Bain, the new Labour MP for Glasgow North East supported SNP calls for capital acceleration. b. “Failure to accelerate capital expenditure to Scotland by the UK Labour Government despite cross party support north of the border is a real slap in the face for Scotland. It will put at risk 5,000 Scottish jobs and do nothing to stimulate the Scottish economy. c. “This may be Mr Bain’s first real test. Will he hide on the Commons back benches or will he stand up for his constituents? d. “I call on Willie Bain and his Labour colleagues in Glasgow to join the SNP in condemning Alasdair Darling’s decision. At a stroke Brown and Darling have shown that voting Labour in Scotland delivers nothing from the UK Government. Voters who supported Mr Bain in the Glasgow North East by election will be watching with interest.” e. “Labour’s ‘tell them what they want to hear’ style of election campaigning will start to unravel quickly if he refuses to do the decent thing.” He did nothing.

2010: Electoral Commission Rebukes Prime Minster Brown and the labour Government. a. Britain’s election watchdog has issued an unprecedented rebuke to the Labour Party over the four-and-a-half-month delay in holding the Glasgow North East by-election. The Electoral Commission pointed out in its report that no constituency in the UK had been without an MP for a longer period in the past 35 years. b. The by-election was staged after Michael Martin, the former Commons Speaker, decided to stand down as an MP in the wake of the expenses scandal. 2011: The sordid attack by Scottish MPs on Scotland’s freedom – with help from English MPs 2012: Willie Bain attempts to discredit Scottish Independence a. Yet another Labour Party stalwart has jumped into the breach to try and stem the tide of opinion in favour of Scottish Independence. This time it is Willie Bain, Westminster MP and Shadow Scotland Office Minister. This latest effort appears in Labour List which is a grassroots Labour Party online site. b. Willie’s offering has the title “Why the Left should beware Salmond-onomics” which is presumably meant to be an attempt at witticism. If you have the stomach for it you can read the whole piece here.

c. Now the first thing to be said is that a left wing critique of current SNP economic policies would be a most welcome contribution. Alas, Willie Bain’s piece is no such thing. It is one more blatant attempt to discredit Scottish Independence. d. What is interesting about this piece is that Bain makes not attempt to present a positive case for the Union, but simply asserts again and again that Scotland is too wee and too poor to be a successful state in its own right. 2012: Liar Liar Pants on Fire. a. I am enraged at the bare faced lies of Willie Bain (Labour)who yet again pops up and tells the world that Scotland is being damaged by the prospect of an independence referendum in that companies are not investing here. This is the 3rd time I have heard this odious little man deliberately lying on national TV and getting away with it. b. It is no more than a malicious attempt at causing damage to Scotland. This is the kind of wickedness and propaganda that the anti scotland parties are now getting away with it. Angus McNeil had a wide open goal with Bain and failed utterly to hold him to account.

He should have publicly called him a liar and forced him to either provide the evidence or withdraw his treacherous propaganda. c. It really is time for the SNP to stick the boot in to these liars. As it is Bain and Macmillan’s lies and propaganda that will do the damage if it is not stopped. These people would sooner see Scotland in eternal penury than independent. d. What a disgrace. 2012: Ed Balls: The Labour Party will vote against the government’s higher rate tax change next week a. We will vote against the 50p change. It is the wrong tax cut at the wrong time. I have always said that no tax rate is set in stone, but how can anyone believe it is right to take tax credits from working families. But they did not turn up to vote!!!!!!!!!! 2012: There is a long-standing PLP convention that we do not support SNP motions – we will oppose the Finance Bill & lay amendments. This week saw the leak of a document that showed the depths of Labour tribalism. A gift to oppose the Tories tax cut for millionaires was rejected by Labour because it would mean siding with Plaid Cymru and the SNP.

According to a tweet by Labour’s shadow Scotland office minister Willie Bain MP, it was revealed that the Tory budget which will benefit the UK’s millionaires was not opposed because it “is a long-standing PLP convention that we do not support SNP motions”. The SNP’s Stewart Hosie commented: “Even when it came to voting against a Tory tax cut for millionaires, Labour could not put its resentment of the SNP aside in the interests of ordinary working people. “Mr Bain’s comments are a very sad indictment of Labour and his party’s failure, to put people before narrow politics, will rebound very badly on them.” Comment. Straight from the horses mouth. Regardless of merit and benefit to the constituents the Labour Party in Scotland will vote against the SNP. Reckless and stupidity beyond the pale. The Party apparently hates the SNP more than it loves Scotland. 2012: Further confirmation of the, “Bain Principle” a. The minority SNP administration in Stirling was prevented from passing a budget earlier this year by the combined forces of Labour and Conservatives who then joined to propose and pass a budget with a 1% Council Tax reduction. This saved householders pennies each week but cost the Council millions of pounds. b.

The Unionists did so, spitefully, in the belief that a majority SNP administration post-election would suffer politically in attempting to provide council services on a reduced budget and, no doubt, introduce service cuts. c. This was a strange one. Throughout the election there were cries from Unionist party activists that the SNP was fighting a national campaign while they were fighting on local issues. This despite a plethora of election leaflets being produced with slogans like ‘Save the Union’, ‘Don’t Split Up the UK’ and similar. d. And, when questioned by the media about the Tory-Labour coalition in Stirling (when SNP and Labour policy locally are similar) Labour Group Leader Corrie McChord stated he couldn’t work with the SNP. ‘It’s the big question of separation,’ he said. e. Well, Mr McChord (and Mr Bain), as a member of the SNP Dunblane & Bridge of Allan branch which is part of the Stirling council area, I can confirm we have no local plans to separate from either the UK or the rest of Scotland. f. So, the reason you can’t work with the SNP locally is because of a national issue?

Or could it be that in the run up to 2014, with the symbolism of Stirling Castle, the Wallace Monument and Bannockburn, it was decided Stirling could just not be in SNP hands? g. I tried to point this out to the (Honourable) Member for Glasgow North East. “I understand that. Local ‘circumstances’ according to Stirling Labour leader was ‘separation’.” I received no response from my MP. I don’t expect one either. i. I know he’s a busy man and probably had to run off somewhere. With his tail between his legs. Labour ‘principles’ exposed yet again. The Bain Principle intact. 2012: The Benefits System a. Can Scotland afford its benefit system? The only thing we know for certain is that the devastated and impoverished Springburn constituency has never been able to afford its Labour MPs, who for generations have done nothing for Springburn, but a helluva lot for themselves – witness Lord Martin, the disgraced former Speaker who presided over the expenses scandal that ripped off the taxpayer. b.

Radio Interview – Vote No and Benefits Go – Blair Jenkins and Willie Bain – Scotland’s Welfare – Why oh why will SNP MPs when they are on the national airwaves not nail these liars? Willie has a weakness. He has a pathological hatred of the SNP. #t=45 September 2012: MP’s claiming 250,000 a day in tax free expenses The amount of money claimed by MPs in expenses rose by almost a quarter in 12 months as they hit nearly £90 million in 2011-12, with three Scottish MPs in the top five claimants including Glasgow North East Labour MP Willie Bain, with £180,923.70. Comment: If anyone had any doubts why Labour and the Liberals want to remain in the union then this is it, it’s not that it is good for Scotland, it’s because it’s good for Labour and Liberal Gravy Train Commuters .

Glasgow North East MP Willie Bain and his fellow MP’s have choices to make, do they vote YES for Scotland’s Independence knowing full well that it is what is best for Scotland but at the same time kissing goodbye to their £70,000 salary and their £181,000 in expenses (Christmas and Turkey spring to mind) in fact is there not a conflict of interest here, c’mon good people of Scotland, over the years we have watched thousands of honest hard working miners, shipbuilders, steelworkers , mill workers and many more put out to grass, is it not time to put our MP’s out to grass, I hope that in future Scot’s like me will think that every time a Scottish MP is asked if Scotland will be better off Independent and the answer is NO, they are only really looking after their own self interests. 2013: Labour Plan to Make Benefits a “Human Right” a. Willie admitted it would be a lot easier for Labour to do a deal with Vince Cable he says a Lib-Lab coalition would make welfare benefits a “human right”: b.

“Sadiq asked me to do this and Jon Cruddas is keen on this as well is to look at whether economic and social rights can be put into law. At the moment the human rights act just deals with civil political rights. c. It needs really careful handling because I think the politics of this would be the Tories would say it’s a scroungers charter, helping skivers….we might just talk about having a commission on it. It might need a commission after the election…that’s something again where there’d be a communality with the Libs.” 2013: Is Willie Bain, Labour MP, good for Glasgow North East? a. Glasgow NE is one of the most deprived constituencies in the United Kingdom. (Milton, Ashfield, Keppochhill, Royston, Cowlairs, Springburn, Wallacewell, Milnbank, Dennistoun, Carntyne, Robroyston, and Gartcraig). b. Willie Bain voted along with the Conservatives to continue austerity. Will that help those that live there? Well, it will not affect his £200,000 a year expenses and £66,000 salary. c.

“Many Scottish Labour representatives have told us that they put party loyalty above all else, even expressly against their own beliefs, the interests of Scotland and the people who elected them.” d. The MP last year admitted that he would still oppose Scottish independence even if he was completely convinced that it would benefit the people of Scotland. e.Willie Bain also called for the renewal of Trident. The costs of which are still rising (£130 billion), the MOD is already placing orders for, but which has not been fully voted on in Westminster. 2014: The 30 Scottish Labour MP’s That Voted For Osborne’s Welfare Cap a. So what did these ‘weekend socialists’ do when they returned to the day job at Westminster? Well, they voted with the Tories to put a cap on the amount of money the Government can spend on the welfare budget. b. A callous, reprehensible and regressive measure that will once again disadvantage the poorest in our communities. A stupid, crude, blunt instrument to hammer the poor. Way to go comrade. c.

As a service to you, here is the list of those ‘weekend socialists’ who voted with the Tories to cap the level of spending allocated to helping the poorest in our community. These are the ‘weekend socialist 30’. You can put them up there with the 10 bedroom tax skivers from last year.

Margaret Curran – Glasgow East – Tom Greatrex – Rutherglen and Hamilton West – Ian Murray – Edinburgh South – Willie Bain – Glasgow North East – Gordon Banks – Ochil and South Perthshire – Tom Clarke – Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill – Dame Anne Begg – Aberdeen Alistair Darling – Edinburgh South West – Ian Davidson – Glasgow South West – Thomas Docherty – Dunfermline and West Fife – Frank Doran – Aberdeen North – Gemma Doyle – West Dunbartonshire – Sheila Gilmore – Edinburgh East David Hamilton – Midlothian – Tom Harris – Glasgow South – Jimmy Hood – Lanark and Hamilton East – Cathy Jamieson – Kilmarnock and Loudon – Mark Lazarowicz – Edinburgh North and Leith – Gregg McClymont – Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East – Anne McGuire – Stirling – Anne McKechin – Glasgow North – Iain McKenzie – Greeenock and Inverclyde – Grahame Morris – Livingston – Jim Murphy – East Renfrewshire – Pamela Nash – Airdrie and Shotts – Sandra Osborne – Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock – John Robertson – Glasgow North West – Frank

 Roy – Motherwell and Wishaw – Lindsay Roy – Glenrothes – Anas Sarwar – Glasgow Central.

BBC News - Labour wins in Glasgow North East Labour wins in Glasgow North East Advertisement Willie Bain: "This is a resounding victory for Gordon Brown and for Labour" Labour has claimed a "resounding victory" after comfortably winning the Glasgow North East by-election and seeing off an SNP challenge. The contest was sparked by Michael Martin's resignation as Commons Speaker in the wake of the MP expenses scandal. Willie Bain won with 12,231 votes - a majority of 8,111 - while the SNP came second with 4,120 votes. The Tories came third with 1,075 votes, and the BNP was fourth with 1,013 votes. The Lib Dems came sixth. Voter turnout, at 32.97%, was a record low for a Scottish by-election and 12.8% down on the 2005 General Election.

GLASGOW NORTH EAST RESULTS Lib Dems - 474 votes (2.30%) Total votes cast - 20,595 Willie Bain profile: BBC Democracy Live Speaking from the count at Glasgow's Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, Mr Bain described the result as, "a great day for Labour", adding: "This is a resounding victory for Gordon Brown and Labour. "This by-election has been about many things, but, most of all, it has been about jobs and the economy. "People have had their say. They have backed Gordon Brown in his efforts to secure our economic recovery, they have sent a resounding 'No' to Alex Salmond and his treatment of our great city and a resounding 'No' to David Cameron." The constituency, where Labour has been the main political force for the last 74 years, neighbours the Glasgow East seat - which the SNP snatched from Labour last year in a stunning by-election victory. But the SNP conceded shortly after the polls closed it had not managed to repeat the result. The party's candidate, David Kerr, told supporters: "Our message through the campaign was simple. "For all the problems this constituency and this country face, our potential is far greater still.

"But it is a potential that will only be achieved through freedom." SNP leader and Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond expressed disappointment, but said the party had achieved its best share of the vote in the constituency for 35 years. Conservative candidate Ruth Davidson said the party had run an "energetic and positive" campaign, while pointing out the Tories had not contested the seat since it had been held by the Speaker of the House of Commons. She told the BBC: "If you look at our recent European election results, we more than doubled the vote and we increased the share, so I think you can say this was absolutely a building process for us - we were starting from zero and we've come all the way up to third, so I don't think we should be too disheartened." ANALYSIS Read Brian Taylor's blog Liberal Democrat candidate Eileen Baxendale, who received 474 votes, was beaten by the left-wing party Solidarity and its candidate, former MSP Tommy Sheridan, who came fifth, after winning 794 votes.

Ms Baxendale said: "I congratulate Willie Bain, but look forward to holding him to account at the General Election on all the promises he has made." Green candidate David Doherty secured 332 votes to come in seventh, followed Glasgow Airport attack hero John Smeaton, who got 258 votes. The Scottish Socialist Party's Kevin McVey was ninth, with 152 votes, followed by former Big Brother contestant Mikey Hughes, with 54 votes. Louise McDaid, of the Socialist Labour Party, received 47 votes and was followed, in twelfth place, by independent candidate Mev Brown. Colin Campbell, of the Individuals Labour and Tory, came last with 13 votes. Voting fraud Mr Martin - now Lord Martin - held Glasgow North East in the 2005 General Election with a 10,134 vote majority. It has emerged that police are investigating two alleged incidents of voting fraud in the contest. Council chiefs said the investigation involved three ballot papers - two cast at a ballot box at one polling station in the Dennistoun area and another cast at another polling station in the same area.

A council spokesman said: "We had two incidents at polling stations where voters turned up and when they identified themselves they were told their names had already been scored off the list - somebody had been given a vote in their name." He continued: "We checked our processes to ensure it wasn't a mistake, it wasn't as far as we can see, so we called in the police." He said officers were investigating "alleged personation". Bookmark with: Your MP for Glasgow North East: Willie Bain Your MP for Glasgow North East: Willie Bain STV Share via Whatsapp Election 2010: Incumbent Labour Willie Bain is re-appointed for Glasgow North East. Standing MP Willie Bain has held the Glasgow North East seat, concreting Labour’s hold on the constituency. Mr Bain was elected to the seat in 2009 by-election triggered by the resignation of the then-MP Speaker of the House of Commons Michael Martin due to the MPs’ expenses furore. Mr Bain, 38, was born and brought up in Springburn within the constituency. He studied at St Roch’s Secondary School and Strathclyde University, where he achieved a Bachelor of Laws.

He completed a Diploma in Legal Practice in 1996, and moved into part-time lecturing and research at the University of Strathclyde Law School. While there, he worked with the Law School’s Centre for Parliamentary and Legislative Studies on research projects on devolution. Glasgow North East election results Mr Bain completed a Master of Laws by Research in Constitutional Law in 2004. He then became a lecturer in Public law at London South Bank University. He was secretary of the Glasgow North East Constituency Labour Party and its previous constituency, Glasgow Springburn, from 1999 to 2009. Mr Bain is a member of Unite, Progress, the Fabian Society, and Amnesty International. Share this article By continuing you agree to our Terms of Use , including our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy . Any issues contact us . Upload Profile Picture Close Please make sure your image is under 2mb in size and a valid JPG, PNG or GIF. Select file Are you sure? Close Unfortunately, you'll be unable to access our premium content. We’ll be sorry to see you go, but if you change your mind you can rejoin us at any time.

Cancel Please verify your STV account Close Please verify your STV account using the email we sent you. If you have lost the email, we can send you another one, just click the button below. Thanks We've sent you a new verification email. Please check your email and follow the instructions to verify your account. Close This field is required. That doesn't look like a valid e-mail format, please check. Location Please tick this box to confirm that you are a resident of the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man. This field is required. Parental Consent Please tick this box to confirm that you have received consent from a parent or guardian in order to complete this form and submit your vote. This field is required. That's you. All that's left is to click the 'Submit Vote' button below. By doing so, you confirm that you and your parent or guardian have read and accept our Voting Terms of Use , Privacy Policy and Cookie policy , and that the details you have entered are correct. We'll look after them as carefully as if they were our own.

BBC NEWS | UK | Scotland | Glasgow, Lanarkshire and West | By-election win 'endorses Brown' By-election win 'endorses Brown' Willie Bain won with a majority of 8,111 votes Labour have hailed their win in the Glasgow North East by-election as a dramatic victory and an endorsement of Prime Minister Gordon Brown's policies. Willie Bain became the constituency's new MP with 12,231 votes - a majority of 8,111 over the SNP. The Scottish National Party accused Labour of negative campaigning on "grudge and grievance". Shadow chancellor George Osborne said he did not think the result was "relevant" to the rest of the UK. The Tory MP said: "Come the general election what we will be looking at is Labour's record in power and Gordon Brown will be the incumbent, and he will be the one who has to explain why he has got so much badly wrong." The Tories came third in the poll with 1,075 votes and the BNP was fourth. The Lib Dems came sixth behind Tommy Sheridan of Solidarity. The contest was sparked by Michael Martin's resignation as Commons Speaker in the wake of the MP expenses scandal.

Voter turnout, at 32.97%, was a record low for a Scottish by-election and 12.8% down on the 2005 General Election. GLASGOW NORTH EAST BY-ELECTION RESULTS Labour - 12,231 votes (59.39%) Profile of Willie Bain Speaking at a victory press conference in the constituency on the morning after the poll, Mr Bain said it was a "disastrous" result for Mr Salmond, whose minority SNP administration has run the devolved Scottish government since 2007. He said: "I think people were very clear that the SNP have not treated Glasgow well on a range of issues from the airport rail link to crime to health to jobs, and it was a disastrous result for him personally. "He visited this constituency on several occasions and he was soundly rebuffed yesterday." Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy added: "The people of Scotland are seeing through the SNP, the people of Glasgow have spoken for the whole of Scotland. "The SNP have got too big for their boots. They've got a little bit arrogant.

They get carried away with themselves and they've been brought back down to earth with a bump." Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland, the Labour MP for East Renfrewshire also claimed Labour's victory was "an endorsement of Gordon Brown and what he is trying to do". Mr Murphy added: "He visited the constituency, that's not the convention, but he thought it was the right thing to do, to lead from the front of the campaign and he's been vindicated." Willie Bain - A great night for Scottish Labour Mr Brown later said: "Willie Bain was a great candidate and will make a great MP. This shows that when we fight hard we win." SNP candidate David Kerr said the UK government should not read too much into the by-election win. Speaking at a press conference in Glasgow following the result, SNP depute leader and Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: "The SNP campaign did achieve our best Westminster result in Glasgow North East for 35 years, and David Kerr's positive campaign made progress in Labour's safest seat in Scotland. "But we were clearly disappointed by the result, and one early lesson from this by-election is clear.

"We absolutely must now take Labour's negative campaigning and misrepresentations head on." She added: "Our challenge is to expose and counteract the dishonest campaigning that has become Labour's trademark. "Where the SNP offers opportunity, Labour now campaign on grudge and grievance - however inaccurate. "It is for the SNP now to find a way to deal effectively with these unfounded attacks." Liberal Democrat Scotland spokesman Alistair Carmichael said: "After 12 years of Labour, the desperately low turnout demonstrates a real lack of enthusiasm for a Labour government that has not delivered for its own core constituency. "The SNP were identified from day one as the challengers here, but as people see the ever growing list of broken SNP promises at Holyrood they are unable to take advantage of Labour's weakness." Bookmark with:

Question: Who preceded Willie Bain as MP for Glasgow North East?
Answer: Michael Martin